1. إِن كانَ لَيلي داج

    وَخاننا الإصباح

    If my night is dark

    and daybreak has betrayed us,

  2. فَنورها الوَهّاج

    يغني عَن المصباح

    then its blazing light

    dispenses with the lamp.

  3. سُلافة تَبدو

    كَالكَوكَبِ الأَزهر

    A choice wine appears

    like a radiant star;

  4. مزاجها شَهد

    وَعَرفُها عَنبر

    its blend is honey,

    and its scent is ambergris.

  5. يا حَبَّذا الوَرد

    مِنها وَإِن أَسكر

    Oh, how lovely the draught

    from it, though it intoxicates!

  6. قَلبي بها قَد هاج

    فَما تَراني صاح

    My heart is stirred by it;

    so you never see me sober,

  7. عَن ذَلِكَ المِنهاج

    وَعَن هَوىً يا صاح

    turned from that path

    or from love, my friend.

  8. وَبي رَشاً أَهيف

    قَد لَجَّ في بُعدي

    And I am smitten with a slender-waisted fawn

    who persists in keeping far from me:

  9. بَدر فَلا يخسف

    مِنهُ سَنا الخَدِّ

    a full moon—never eclipsed

    is the radiance of his cheek.

  10. بِلحظه المُرهف

    يَسطو عَلى الأُسدِ

    With his keen glance

    he assails lions,

  11. كَسَطوة الحَجاج

    في الناس وَالسفاح

    like the onslaught of al-Hajjaj

    and al-Saffah upon the people.

  12. فَما تَرى مِن ناج

    مِن لَحظه السفاح

    So you see no survivor

    of his murderous glance.

  13. عَلل بِالمسكِ

    قَلبي رَشا أَحور

    With musk was soothed

    my heart by a dark-eyed fawn,

  14. منعم المسكِ

    ذو مبسم أَعطر

    soft of skin,

    with a most fragrant smiling mouth.

  15. رَيّاه كَالمسك

    وَريقه كَوثر

    His scent is like musk,

    and his saliva is Kawthar.

  16. غُصن عَلى رَجراج

    طاعَت لَهُ الأَرواح

    A bough upon swaying hips,

    to whom souls have submitted.

  17. فَحَبَّذا الأراج

    إِن هبتِ الأَرواح

    How lovely the fragrance

    if the breezes blow!

  18. مَهلاً أَبا القاسم

    عَلى أَبي حَيّان

    Gently, Abu al-Qasim,

    with Abu Hayyan!

  19. ما إِن لَهُ عاصم

    مِن لَحظك الفَتان

    He has no protector

    from your bewitching glance,

  20. وَهَجرك الدائم

    قَد طالَ بِالهيمان

    and your constant estrangement

    has lasted long for the lovesick man.

  21. فَدَمعه أَمواج

    وَسرّه قَد لاح

    So his tears are waves,

    and his secret has come to light;

  22. لَكنه ما عاج

    وَلا أَطاع اللاح

    yet he has not turned aside

    nor obeyed the reprover.

  23. يا رُبَّ ذي بُهتان

    يعذل في الراح

    Oh, many a slanderer

    reproves me for wine

  24. وَفي هَوى الغُزلان

    دافَعت بِالراح

    and for loving gazelles.

    I fended him off with my palm

  25. وَقُلت لا سُلوان

    عَن ذاكَ يا لاحي

    and said, "No forgetting

    that, my reprover!"

  26. سَبع الوجوه وَالتاج

    هِيَ مُنيةُ الأَفراح

    The seven faces and the crown

    are what celebrations desire;

  27. فَاِختَر لي يا زجّاج

    قمصال وَزوج أَقداح

    so choose for me, O glassmaker,

    a qamṣāl and a pair of goblets.